Welcome to the 10 best places to visit in Ireland. So you're thinking about visiting Ireland, but you want to know what to see and what to do? We are going to show you the best places to visit in Ireland. With no further ado, the top 10 things to do in Ireland.
1# Dublin
Most likely you're going to start off in Dublin. Dublin is an amazing city; it's beautiful; it's got tons of nightlife, and you pretty much have a lot of the best things from Ireland in one spot. More likely than not, you're going to go to the Guinness Storehouse. It's basically where they make and store Guinness; it's an amazing tourist attraction. Always very busy, but it's popular for a reason; Ranked the best tourist attraction in all of Europe, beating out Versailles and everything. It's worth a visit, for sure.
While you're at it, head over to Trinity College, beautiful campus, but also the home of the Book of Kells, this priceless manuscript made by Irish monks over a thousand years ago that basically protected a wealth of knowledge through the Dark Ages and saved it for us to gawk at nowadays.
2# The Wild Atlantic Way
Next up the Wild Atlantic Way. This coastal road goes from the tip of Ireland in the north all the way down to the bottom, and it is an amazing way to get a real taste of what Ireland is. From Dublin a good place to start is Sligo that gives you the option going north towards Northern Ireland or south towards Galway, but just go out there and get lost. The west coast of Ireland is extremely remote. There're tons of isolated capes and cool little quirky villages that you can go check out.
Specific destinations along the Wild Atlantic Way, we really love the town of Strandhill. It's got this chilled out surf vibe, big old beach. You can take surf lessons there. After having a surf, head over to Voya Seaweed Baths and try the traditional Irish remedy of a steaming hot seaweed bath in salt water. It will rejuvenate the soul, and it will make you silky smooth.
3# Slieve League
Another place you have to visit on the Wild Atlantic Way is Slieve League.This is just north of Sligo; they're the highest cliffs in Ireland and the highest sea cliffs in Europe. They dwarf the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher ain't got nothing, nothing on Slieve League.
It's really cool. Slieve League is infinitely less crowded than the Cliffs of Moher, and this place is Instagram gold. Grab your camera, grab your travel buddy, and head to Slieve League before it gets totally blown up. Just don't get too close to those cliffs. It's a long way down.
4# Galway
Next up the city of Galway. Galway is a university town on the west coast of Ireland. It's super funky. I think it wins the funky award for Ireland.It's got street art and tons of musicians. I believe it's one of the most musical cities in Ireland and in the world. That being said, it's home to artists, musicians, killer restaurants, and it's a great place to base yourself for exploring the surrounding area. Galway is one of the best places to experience traditional Irish language known as Gaelic. Just north of the city is a cultural center named Connects Swain in a renovated old village.
You can also just experience live music at bars like the Crane in downtown Galway. Galway is also known for its oysters. To sample these little beauties, head to Morans on the Weir. It's an oyster cottage in an old traditional building. It's been around for hundreds of years, and you can get a serious seafood platter there. Also, restaurants like Kai and Aniar Galway City serve up some delicious meals, so don't miss out.
5# The Aran Islands
Next up, the Aran Islands, not to be confused with the Iron Islands, which were also filmed in Ireland for Game of Thrones. The Aran Islands are next to Galway. Most people from Galway would go to Cliffs of Moher, but we would suggest going to Aran Aran Islands. It's a short plane ride away or a ferry right from Galway, and it's a really cool Island that preserves ancient style of Irish life.
If you're into adrenaline activities, head to the Aran Islands because Red Bull used to host the cliff-diving World Championships there at a place called the Worm, this perfect natural swimming pool with a very large cliff jump. Worth it.
6# County Cork
After that head down the Wild Atlantic Way to County Cork. County Cork is the birthplace of the local food movement in Ireland. It is the breadbasket of the country and home to tons of amazing local producers. You can sample local Irish cheese at places like Gubbeen, or you can go kayaking along the amazing coastlines. There all these crazy rocks and then harvest seaweed to bring back and cook with.
The southwest of Ireland actually catches the tail end of the jet stream, so it's quite temperate and beautiful little coastal towns like Kinsale make a great place to stop before heading in to Cork City, which is full of history from Ireland's battle with the English for independence.
7# Belfast
Next up is Belfast. As you might know, Ireland has been independent from the UK for about a hundred years, but it still remains divided into two separate countries about 80% is in the south, known as the Republic of Ireland, and 20% of the land it belongs to the UK as Northern Ireland Capital of Northern Ireland is Belfast and until a couple decades ago, it was completely ravaged by guerrilla warfare, car bombs, and all sorts of partisan violence.
Thankfully, Northern Ireland is now experiencing peace, and one of the best ways to learn about the history and also see how the city is healing its wounds is by going on a street art tour, which shows how murals that were once political have now become an artistic way of bringing closure to this troubling period.
8# Northern Ireland - Game Of Thrones Filming Location
If you are a Game of Thrones fans, then visiting Northern Ireland should be at the top of your bucket list because a lot of the filming locations for Game of Thrones are in Northern Ireland, including the real-life Winterfell where you can dress up in bear skin cloaks, take swords, learn how to shoot bows and arrows and basically be a part of the family Stark for a day. It's awesome. One of the super cool things is that they have the dire wolves here from the Stark family.
Not only is there Winterfell, but the film locations for the Iron Islands for the kingsroad and that crazy scene in the very beginning of the show .... season1, episode 1, scene 1, where they find all those dismembered wildlings and then people start getting eaten.
9# Giant's Causeway
Another must visit spot in Northern Ireland is Giant's Causeway. It's about an hour and a half outside of Belfast. It's a beautiful natural rock formation. According to myth, Giant's Causeway is formed by two giants: the Irish giant, Finn MacCool and the Scottish one, Benandonner. Benandonner challenged Finn to a fight Finn built the causeway to connect here with Scotland.
There are two explanations for what happened next: The first is that Finn MacCool beat Benandonner fair and square. The second is that Finn tricked Benandonner because he saw he was too big to fight. He dressed himself up as a baby and had his wife carry him around to make Benandonner think....... Why, he's just a wee baby, but he's huge.
Can't imagine how big Finn is! Benandonner went running back to Scotland and destroyed the Causeway in his wake, so that Finn McCool could not chase him back and continue the fight. There's about 40,000 of these basalt columns. They all erupted out of the earth around 50 million years ago when molten lava came down. The lava was cooled instantaneously by the sea, which is how the rock kind of took on this interesting formation.
10# Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge
Just down the road from the Giant's Causeway is the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, a really cool little rope bridge linking a headland that used to be the home of a salmon fisherman. Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge is a famous rope bridge near Ballintoy in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The bridge links the mainland to the tiny island of Carrickarede. It spans 20 metres and is 30 metres above the rocks below.
The bridge is mainly a tourist attraction and is owned and maintained by the National Trust. In 2009 it had 247,000 visitors. The bridge is open all year round and people may cross it for a fee. History It is thought salmon fishermen have been building bridges to the island for over 350 years. It has taken many forms over the years.
In the 1970s it had only one handrail and large gaps between the slats. A new bridge, tested up to ten tonnes, was built with the help of local climbers and abseilers in 2000. Another was built in 2004 and offered visitors and fishermen alike a much safer passage to the island. The current wire rope and Douglas fir bridge was made by Heyn Construction in Belfast and raised early in 2008 at a cost of over £16,000. There have been many instances where visitors, unable to face the walk back across the bridge, have had to be taken off the island by boat.
As your trip comes to an end, you're going to want a souvenir to bring some of Ireland home with you. Luckily, there're tons of options, everything from amazing whiskies like Jamesons or Bushmills to the beautiful craft work that has undergone an amazing revitalization- revival in recent years. The best place to find this is in the capital. They're stores like Indigo Cloth and the Irish Design Shop. They have some really cool products from all across the country.
If you've been to Ireland then let us know in the comments below. Tell us of any other cool places, restaurants, gift shops etc. Hope you enjoyed the 10 best places to visit in Ireland.
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